See Poswalls' Springhill near Lincoln and a hidden Newcastle oasis
Springhill, the gardens of John Poswall and Peg Tomlinson Poswall, will open for visitors Sunday. Courtesy Poswall Gardens
“If only I had room!” Every gardener has had that thought.
Here’s an opportunity to see two amazing and imaginative private gardens in Placer County created by folks who had enough room to let their dreams really grow. One garden – the Poswalls’ Springhill – sprawls over 50 oak-studded acres near Lincoln; the other – a 3-acre oasis outside Newcastle – has never been shared on a public tour.
Both gardens will welcome visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 4, during The Garden Conservancy’s Open Garden Days. These two participating gardens are about 20 minutes apart.
Suggested donation is $10 per garden per person. Patrons may sign up for one garden or both, but advance registration is a must. Sign up here.
The Garden Conservancy’s Open Garden Days program “annually celebrates the country’s most exciting, creative, and innovative private gardens,” says the conservancy. “Open Days is made up of a nationwide community of gardeners and garden enthusiasts teaching and inspiring each other and the public. From expert to novice, there is no better way to improve as a gardener than by experiencing a diverse range of gardens, and gardening traditions, firsthand.”
These two Placer County gardens are excellent examples.
Created by novelist/attorney John Poswall and his wife, food expert Peg Tomlinson Poswall, Springhill is not one garden but more than 20. It’s a rare collection of whimsy inspired by the couple’s world travels, complete with its own Stonehenge.
“Start at the Chinese Garden, hidden away below levies, with its Hidden Buddha Garden, Xi'An warrior, and Lotus Pond, and exit at waterfalls,” suggest the organizers. “Walk the plant-covered Islamic arched pergola to the Mexican Garden with its palapa and palms, and then on to the 400-foot-long Statuary Garden lined with Italian cypress; St. Michael at the top, the Three Graces at the bottom, and a 19-foot-high fountain in between. Above is the Italian Garden and still higher the Rose Garden with a view of the house and tower.”
In between are cactus and drought-tolerant gardens as well as lotus-filled ponds and shady retreats. Wear comfortable shoes.
The second stop is also special. Nicknamed Cheryl’s Oasis, this 3-acre private garden has been 47 years in the making. Located off Highway 193, just west of Newcastle, the property features a series of garden “rooms”; at the center is a screened-in sleeping room – open to nature. A highlight is the gardener’s vast collection of succulents, grown for three decades.
“More than 100 species and varieties of plants, flowering bushes, and trees surround the home with a mixed feeling of cactus, ferns, bamboo, and yucca crowding pathways lined with succulents, agave, and aloe,” say the organizers. “Pine trees and fruit trees sit alongside Chinese fringe and tulip trees with red canna below. … All this, in a distinct sense of quiet and peace.”
See for yourself – but one day only.
For more details: https://www.gardenconservancy.org/
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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